Federal and state regulations have been modified in recent years to require local stormwater management programs to address water quality. The most significant water quality impacts occur during frequent storms with up to 1 inch of rainfall.

Historically, the practice of stormwater management has focused on flood prevention. The approach to systems design has been to transport runoff away from developed areas as quickly as possible. Systems were designed to handle the largest storms to reduce the potential for flooding and property damage.

How Stormwater Impacts Water Quality When rain falls on land and impervious areas, such as construction sites,paved streets, parking lots, and building rooftops, it transport sediments, oil, grease, chemicals, nutrients, metals, litter, and pathogens into our streams. This is known as polluted runoff.

Left unmanaged, most pollutants are washed into the storm sewer system and into public waterways during small and frequent rain events of 1 inch or less.

Stormwater does not go to a treatment plant. Impervious surfaces like roofs, driveways, and storm sewers prevent infiltration of rainwater, greatly increasing the rate and amount of runoff. This causes frequent flash flooding, erosion of stream banks and greater amounts of pollution reaching streams, rivers, and lakes. These factors have significantly contributed to the degradation of important water resources.

What This Means to the City of Neosho Federal and state regulations require the City of Neosho to create a comprehensive local stormwater management program that protects water quality. This requirement is implemented by a permit for stormwater discharges from the city's municipal separate storm sewer system, or MS4. An MS4 permit is a binding legal document that regulates Neosho's entire system of curbs, gutters, drains, pipes and ditches as a singular facility that carries stormwater runoff into waters of the state.

The city’s MS4 permit requires a program with six activity areas, known as Minimum Control Measures:

The City of Neosho is required create and implement a plan to comply with the permit conditions, or face enforcement actions that can include administrative orders and fines.

What This Means to the Public The City of Neosho has drafted a stormwater management program plan. The plan describes policies and procedures proposed to achieve compliance with the MS4 permit conditions. The plan calls for revisions to the city's stormwater management ordinance necessary for effective regulation of:

Non-stormwater discharges to the MS4

Erosion and sediment control and pollution prevention at construction sites

Stormwater management in new development or redevelopment

Other parts of the plan address public education elements, public involvement in the stormwater management program, and pollution prevention in municipal operations.